Photography Tips

We thought this may come in handy for those who want that 'Wow Factor' image of their car. Feel free to add to this if we've missed anything out,

FreshUK




(MP) MegaPixels:

A pixel is the fundamental building block of a digital image. A pixel is commonly made up of three parts - Red, Green and Blue (RGB) and sometimes Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (CMYK). The pixels themselves can be dots, squares, recatangles or even triangles.
The theory is that the more pixels you have, the greater the amount of detail you can capture. While the theory is sound, the reality is different. These days, most digital image sensors actually outresolve the lens, meaning the lens itself produces less detail than the sensor. Also, when you have more pixels on the same size sensor, the pixel density has to increase as well, and this can lead to increased noise (or grain).
Another important factor is the bit depth of each pixels. Digital does not allow for 'fractions', so to speak, so if you had possible colour or brightness levels from 0-255, for example, you cannor have 175.6, it has to be 175 or 176. The amount of 'steps' is defined by the bitdepth. Normal JPEG images are 8bits per pixel, meaning 256 (0-255) different steps for each colour.



Rough Guide to Memory Cards:

A rough guide to how many jpeg pics you can get on different sized memory cards with different megapixel cameras

6mp
256 card -85 jpeg images
512 card -170 jpeg images
1gb card -320 jpeg images
2gb card -650 jpeg images

8mp
256 card -70 jpeg images
512 card -150 jpeg images
1gb card -290 jpeg images
2gb card -580 jpeg images




Aperture:

this is formed by a set of variable interlocking blades in the lens assembly which sets the amount of light that reaches the cameras sensor when its exposed
With a wide aperture you can create a photo with the backround thrown out of focus were as a small aperture gets background and foreground in focus.
The actual size of the aperture is expressed in f-numbers also referred to as f-stops so if you set your aperture to a f-number of f/4 you will get a wider aperture which means as much light as possible is entering the camera wereas a f-number of f/22means the opposite the smaller the number is a good way to take a photo in low light situations or were you want a fast shutter speed to capture sports action wereas the larger the number is good for landscapes etc.




Shutter Speed:

Along with aperture this is the second setting that needs to be correct for an accurate exposure.
basically shutter speed is the length of time the shutter stays open for.
varying the shutter speed has 3 main affects which are freezing a moment in time with a fast shutter speed creating dream like affects with long shutter speeds and a sense of movement with a medium setting.




ISO Sensitvity:

The higher the ISO number the less light it needs before the flash will activate. Simple




ISO Speed:

ISO stands for International Standards Organisation, and ISO speed defines how quickly the digital sensor (or film, if you are using a film camera) responds to light. A lower ISO speed rating means the camera will respond slowly to light, and a higher ISO speed means the camera will respond faster to light, however higher ISO speeds can introduce noise into the photo - while image noise can be used for effect, it is often an undesirable effect.
High ISO speeds are useful when there is limited light available and using a longer exposure is not an option like gigs for example. If you were shooting landscape in a limited light situation, you could use a lower ISO speed and a longer exposure time to allow the sensor to respond to the available light at a lower speed.




Shooting a Landscape:

You never want too much 'sky' or too much 'ground' if you want the perfect image (unless ofcourse thats what your going for). When shooting a car, we find the best position is to have yourself eye level to the cars headlights for the best results.




SLR:

SLR stands for Single Lens Reflex. When you look through the viewfinder of an SLR, you are actually looking at the light that is entering the lens, unlike the viewfinder on a compact / non-SLR camera where the viewfinder is commonly above the lens and slightly off centre.
If you remove the lens on an SLR camera, you will see a mirror at a 45 degree angle. This mirror directs the light to a prism and into your eye through the viewfinder. When you press the shutter button, the mirror swings out of the way which allows the light to pass to the sensor / film.
SLR's also have interchangeable lenses, which you do not get with compacts or bridge/hybrid camera's